American Resources plans to build a mobile cell rare earth processing plant

American Resources, a US coal company, plans to build a two-kilowatt rare-earth processing plant with a mobile electrolytic cell, but the location of the plant has yet to be determined.The company said the move is part of its plan to commercialize process chains for rare earth elements technology, and that the plant already has the technology and patents needed for the facility thanks to the purchase of a technology from Ohio University.

The company noted that the device represents an innovative method of using coal electrolytic cell (CEC) technology to produce by-products such as coal, coal gangue and fly ash into rare earth concentrate, carbon, purified fly ash and hydrogen.The plant design is based on successful technical analysis using typical fly ash from Ohio, with particle size less than 75 microns, which produces hydrogen in the cathode of the electrolytic cell and extracts 65% yttrium (Y), 59% dysprosium (Dy) and 76% ytterbium (Yb)."

The company said capital expenditures for the initial equipment cost less than $1 million.Because it is mobile, it can be transported to various sites, both internal and external, to process and evaluate a specific fly ash and coal-based feedstock at each location.Owning the facility will help identify the specific economic value of each feedstock point, the economic benefits of key element and rare earth element formation, the development of the fly ash-concrete market and the carbon and hydrogen recovered in the process.The electrolysis phase of its capture-treatment-purification technology flow chain sets out the principles for producing rare earth concentrate at a low cost and in an environmentally safe manner.The facility will be completed within the next six months and ready for field deployment in the third or fourth quarter of this year.